


one glance (was all it took)

by siimplyviibiing (llostt_in_ttranslationn)



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Very AU, dot & shelby bffs, shelby is a milf, the girls are in their 20s, there is no island obvs, toni &rachel bffs, toni is a wnba star
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28968105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llostt_in_ttranslationn/pseuds/siimplyviibiing
Summary: Toni Shalifoe is the starting point guard for the Dallas Wings. Shelby Goodkind is the single-mother of an eight-year-old. Somehow, their paths cross by chance for the first time one random evening. The rest of the times their paths cross? Might be more deliberate.
Relationships: Dot Campbell/Mateo, Fatin Jadmani/Leah Rilke, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 37
Kudos: 295





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> told you guys i wouldn't stay away too long. sorry if you hate kids, this probably isn't the fic for you if you do. but, i will be adding an epilogue to my other shoni fic soon if that interests you more. enjoy!

“Hi, welcome to  _ Dot’s _ . My name is Dot, what can I get for you today?”

Dot grins when she gets the desired result of her spiel —a bubbly laugh from the little boy on one side of the booth, and an affectionate eye-roll from the woman across from him— and she readies her notebook and pen for their orders.

“You don’t have to greet us like that every time we come here, Dottie. Lord knows you’re probably too busy to even be out here actin’ like the waitress you were in high school.”

This time, Dot is the one rolling her eyes. “Hey, it’s my restaurant, if I wanna give you the VIP treatment, I will.”

“Yeah, Mama. Auntie Dot is the  _ owner _ . She gets’ta do whatever she wants!” Dot laughs, because she’s definitely the one who has been teaching this kid to have such an attitude, and the glare she receives from his mother indicates that the blonde knows that, too.

“A’right, a’right,” Shelby raises her hands in defeat. “What do you want to eat, Gil?”

The little brunet to Dot’s left stares down at his kids’ menu, clearly deep in thought, though Dot is certain he will order a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of french fries, like always. 

After a few more moments of contemplation, Gil looks up with his usual bright grin. “Grilled cheese and fries! Please!”

Dot chuckles, writing down the order as if she hasn’t heard it a hundred times. “And for you?” She turns to Shelby.

“Just a salad for me tonight, thanks Dottie.”

Dot jots that down, too. But she knows that Shelby only orders salad for dinner when she’s especially stressed, so she lingers by the table for an extra moment. “How about some milkshakes, while you wait? On the house.”

“Yes!” Gil agrees instantly, too quick for Shelby to come up with a reason to say no.

“Chocolate or vanilla today, G?” Dot knows the answer to this question, too.

“Mama wants vanilla, but I want chocolate!” Gil announces as if it is the biggest piece of news Dot will hear all day. 

“Coming right up!” Dot leaves them with one more big smile, more genuine than she usually is with customers. But then again, Shelby and Gil are not just random customers. Shelby has been Dot’s best friend for years. They played soccer together as kids (Dot's dad was their coach) and remained friends throughout school, though they mostly ran in different social circles. Dot was literally in the delivery room when Gil was born, so honestly as far as she is concerned, these two are  _ family _ .

Dot passes off the order slip to one of the cooks, Jeanette, who is a couple years older than Dot herself, and has been working at the diner since both she and Dot were in high school, back when Dot’s dad was the owner and manager of the restaurant. Over the years, Jeanette has gone from part-time waitress to full-time cook, and also has become a good friend to Dot.

While she’s behind the front counter making the two milkshakes, she spots a few other familiar faces tucked away in one of the corner booths, and decides to stop by that table before heading back to her office.

“Here y’all are,” Dot deposits the milkshakes at Shelby and Gil’s table. 

“Thanks Auntie Dot!” Gil eagerly slurps at his frozen treat. 

“Thank you, Dottie,” Shelby smiles that overworked, exhausted smile that Dot sees on her face all too often these days. 

“My pleasure,” Dot says. “Shelbs, give me a ring this weekend, yeah? We gotta catch up.”

Shelby nods. “Definitely.”

Dot smiles at them again, and then departs, heading across the diner. “Got some celebrities among us tonight I see.”

“Hardly!” One of the table’s occupants lets out a loud laugh. “These two haven’t turned a single head with their presence.”

“You’re such a bitch, Fatin,” the girl across from her pouts. “Even if nobody here knows who we are, at least our attractiveness must have gotten  _ some  _ attention.”

“Only thing the people here are looking at is the menu, sorry Toni,” Fatin laughs again. “And  _ maybe _ if anyone spares a second glance over here, it’s at  _ me _ . Or Leah, if they have a death wish.”

“Lee, your woman is out of control!” Toni whines, slipping low in her seat. 

“Don’t be a baby, Shalifoe!” The woman next to Toni teases. “Fatin is just yanking your chain because you’re so easy to rile up. That blonde chick over there has been making eyes at you since we walked in.”

“Thank you, Rachel,” Toni smirks. After a pause, she perks up a second time. “What blonde?”

The whole table laughs at the eagerness in the brunette’s voice. 

Rachel discreetly points towards a booth by the front window. The rest of the girls, some less obviously than others, dare to sneak a peek. 

Dot chokes back her gut-reaction —some sort of mix between a snort and a scoff— because the blonde in question is  _ Shelby _ of all people. And Dot wouldn’t put it past the other woman to have her eyes wander to the table in the corner with four very hot, very not-straight women, but she’s impressed that Rachel would be the one to notice.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m pretty sure she’s been looking over here at Dot, not Toni,” Leah speaks up. 

And that’s more like it, Dot thinks. Leah is usually the most observant and aware of her surroundings, especially the other people in her vicinity.

“I know her,” Dot offers with a shrug.

“Got a new flame, Dorothy?” Fatin wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. “What happened to Mateo?”

“Nothing,” Dot rolls her eyes. “Everything between Mateo and I is great. That’s my friend Shelby. Known her since we were kids.”

“Boo!” Fatin groans. “I was hoping for some saucy drama.”

“Sorry to disappoint, Fatin,” Dot is actually not sorry at all. “Don’t you get enough drama between these two lady-killers, though?” she eyes Toni and Rachel, both of whom do not look apologetic or embarrassed by the insinuation of Dot’s words.

“Don’t even get her started on them,” Leah pleads. “I’m pretty sure she’s more invested in their hookups than she is in our two-year long relationship.”

“Aw, baby,” Fatin coos, pressing a sloppy kiss to Leah’s cheek, which instantly reddens. “You know I’m  _ super invested  _ in you. I just can’t resist watching the trainwreck that is Rachel and Toni trying to date a woman for longer than thirty-six hours.”

“Fuck you, bitch,” Rachel grumbles.

“You wish,” Fatin blows her a kiss. 

“I could have a girl for longer than a day and a half, if I wanted to,” Toni frowns. 

“I’d pay money to see you manage that,” Leah chuckles.

“Too bad I don’t want to!” Toni shoots back. 

Rachel laughs, offering a hand for a high five, which Toni happily smacks with her own palm. 

“One day I’mma sell you two out to the tabloids,” Dot threatens with her own laugh. “I’ll make bank on all the shit y’all say. At the very least, your dedicated Twitter groupies will have some words for ya.”

“Yeah, words like, ‘congratulations’ maybe,” Toni smirks. 

“You’re the absolute worst,” Dot informs her friend lightheartedly. 

“I can assure you, I’ve never gotten a bad review.”

That starts a new round of laughter, and Dot stays for a few moments after it fades, to bid her friends goodbye. She has billing to go over that will keep her here all night if she doesn’t get back to it soon. 

A half-hour or so later, there’s a trio of soft knocks on Dot’s office door. 

“Come in!” she calls out, knowing someone would only be bothering her if it was important.

“Hey Auntie Dot,” It’s little Gil, who shuffles into the room quickly, closing the door behind himself and plopping onto the couch along the far wall. “Mama had to go to the bathroom and told me to wait in here.”

“I’m grateful for the distraction, dude,” Dot drops her pen. “How’s your mama doing?”

“Tired,” Gil answers. “She complains on the phone about her boss a lot. Says some words I’m not ‘sposed to repeat.”

Dot would laugh, if she hadn’t heard many horror stories about Shelby’s boss before. Anything that gets  _ Shelby _ to swear is certainly just as extreme as it seems. 

“Auntie Bec has been picking me up from summer camp because Mama is so busy,” Gil continues. 

“What camp are you going to this summer?” Dot wonders.

“Basketball camp,” Gil boasts with a grin. “I joined a team last winter, and my coach recommended this program for me. My instructors say I’m really good!”

“I didn’t know you were into basketball,” Dots says. “Do you like to watch it on TV?”

“Yes!” Gil bobs his head excitedly. “I wanna play in the NBA when I’m big!”

“Have you ever heard of the  _ W _ NBA?” Dot asks. 

“That’s where the girls who are really good play, right? Mama puts it on for me sometimes if there’s no boys games on. She says when she has time off we’ll go to a game with my friend MJ, because his aunt plays for one of the teams.”

“Our local team is the Dallas Wings. And I happen to know of a few players that are out in the restaurant right now,” Dot tells him, watching his big, bright green eyes grow wider. “Want me to introduce you?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Gil jumps to his feet. “Please, Auntie Dot!”

“Alright, let’s head out there. Hold my hand so you don’t wander off,” Dot stands up and reaches an arm out for him to latch onto.

She hadn’t thought twice about introducing her favorite kid to some of her favorite customers. She’d feel a little bad to be pimping out her friends like this, but she knows Toni and Rachel are always happy to chat with anybody, young or old, about their sport.

“Dorothy, you came back to us!”

“And you brought a friend,” Rachel adds. “Who’s this?”

“This is Gil, he’s a big fan of basketball and I thought he’d love the chance to meet the Wings’ star players,” Dot strokes their egos a bit to smooth over any displeasure at their evening being interrupted. “Gil, these are my friends Fatin, Leah, Toni, and Rachel. Toni and Rachel play for the Dallas Wings, in the WNBA.”

“Hi,” Gil pipes up, not at all fazed by the four strangers sitting in front of him.

“Hi, Gil,” Rachel greets. “Do you play basketball, too?”

“Yep,” Gil grins. “Coach makes us all play every position, but I like being point guard the best.”

“Toni here is our starting point guard,” Rachel tells him. 

Gil’s eyes grow impossibly wider, and he shuffles closer to the table. “That means you're the best on your team, right?”

Toni finally cracks a smile, and Rachel pouts. 

“Let me tell you something, kid,” Toni says. “It’s not always about being the best on the team, but rather being  _ your _ best, so you can help your  _ team _ be the best. Does that make sense?”

Gil nods quickly. “Mama tells me all the time that all I gotta do is my best and the rest will fall into place.”

Toni thinks that is maybe a bit  _ too _ optimistic of an outlook, but she’s really trying to be nice to this kid and not traumatize him away from the whole sport at, what, seven or eight years old? “Your mom sounds like a smart woman,” Toni says instead of being her usual pessimistic self. She catches Fatin rolling her eyes and Leah’s  _ you-are-so-full-of-shit _ facial expression, and for some reason, their doubt of her is more annoying than usual.

“She is,” Gil agrees. “She told me we’d go to one of your games one day.”

“Well, when you pick which game, have your mom give your Aunt Dot a call, and I’ll make sure all three of you get tickets to it, how about that?” And really, Toni has no idea why she offers this. Maybe because she’s a little charmed that this kid would rather go to a WNBA game than an NBA game, or maybe because she knows that this is the kid that was sitting with that very, very attractive blonde woman earlier. Maybe she just wants to support the dreams of a scrawny kid who loves basketball, like she wished someone would've done for her in her youth.

Gil stares at her like she’s the greatest thing he’s ever seen, and it’s a new type of glory for Toni to bask in. Most men she interacts with —though they’re decades older than Gil— think women are inferior to men on the court. She hopes this kid grows up to be less of a shit-bag than the male basketball players that Toni knows.

“There y’all are!” A panicked voice calls out.

The pretty blonde from earlier scurries over, resting both hands on Gil’s shoulders in relief.

“I was worried when you guys weren’t in the office.”

“Sorry Shelby,” Dot cringes. “Gil and I were talking about basketball, and I knew some of my friends who play were grabbing dinner, so I thought I’d introduce him to them.”

Shelby finally seems to notice that they’re standing in front of a table. Her eyes are drawn instantly to Toni and Rachel’s side of the table. “Y’all play for the Wings, right? I thought you looked familiar walking in earlier.”

“Good eye,” Rachel praises, though as she noticed earlier, Shelby’s eyes are glued to Toni and Toni only. 

“Toni says she can get us tickets to one of their games,” Gil leans backwards into his mother, tilting his head up to look at her in the eyes.

“Well, it was gonna be a surprise, but we have tickets to a game already, sweetheart. It’s a Friday night game in July. We’ll be going with Martha and MJ,” Shelby tells him.

“Martha Blackburn?” Toni asks, almost afraid of the answer for some reason.

“Yes,” Shelby gives her a quizzical look, eyes clearly asking how this woman she’s never met knows her closest friend from work.

“Marty’s my sister,” Toni explains. “Well, sort of. It’s complicated.”

“You’re MJ’s aunt?” Gil questions. “He talks about you all the time! He says you’re the best basketball player ever!”

Toni can’t help but smile softly. Martha’s son has been her biggest fan from the day he was born, nabbing what had previously been his mom’s spot at number one fan. Some dots connect in her head over who this woman and this kid are. Martha has talked about a coworker she’d grown close with who has a son that is MJ’s new best friend. “Small world,” Toni muses quietly.

Her cell phone rings then, shrill and disruptive of this calm little bubble. Back to real life then, Toni sighs, fishing in the pocket of her shorts for the stupid little device. She almost chucks it across the diner when she sees that the caller is a recent hookup that she’s been trying to ghost for literal weeks. She declines the call. 

“We should be headin’ home now, huh, sweetheart?” Shelby speaks solely to her son.

“Mama, nooooo,” Gil whines.

“You’ll see your new friends again soon, but now it’s time to say good-bye and thank them for their time this evening.”

Pouting, Gil turns once again to the table. “Bye Toni! Bye Rachel! Bye Fatin! Bye Leah! It was nice to meet y’all.”

“It was an absolute delight to meet you as well, Gil,” Fatin gives a big, friendly smile that she perfected after years of meeting her little brothers’ friends.

“Looking forward to seeing you cheering in the crowd at one of our games,” Rachel says. “We’ll try to give you a good show.”

Gil beams at them all as Shelby guides him away from the table. He gives an enthusiastic wave before turning to face where he’s going, clutching his mom’s hand tightly and beginning to rant and rave about how much fun he had tonight meeting actual real-life basketball  _ stars _ . 

“Thanks for humoring him, y’all,” Dot says to her friends after she watches Shelby and Gil exit the restaurant. “Sorry to interrupt your night.”

“Don’t be,” Toni surprises them all by being the one to speak up. “It was nice meeting a kid who hasn’t yet been tainted by toxic masculinity.”

“And his mom is totally a MILF,” Rachel nudges Toni with a smirk. “I saw you two eyeing each other.”

“Don’t call her a  _ MILF _ !” Dot scolds. “That’s my childhood best friend you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Sorry, Dot,” Rachel doesn’t sound very apologetic. 

“Is she married?” Toni wonders. She hadn’t seen a wedding ring on Shelby’s finger, but these days, you never know.

“No,” Dot rolls her eyes. “But I would greatly appreciate if you didn’t try to have sex with her. Either of you.”

“Funny,” Toni doesn’t laugh. “Marty told me the same thing for if I ever met her coworker bestie. Guess you guys know how much I can’t resist a pretty blonde.”

“ _ Toni _ !” Dot warns. “I’m serious. Don’t fuck around with her.”

Toni raises her hands in surrender. “Chill, Dot. I’m not in the market to settle down with a wife and kid, I’ll keep my hands to myself if I ever talk to her again.”

And even as she’s speaking the almost-promise, Toni feels like it might not exactly be all that true.

Across town, in their cozy little house, Shelby can’t get a certain brunette off her mind, even as she tucks Gil into bed. Probably especially in that moment, actually, as Gil is in fact still going on and on about their time at the diner, even hours later.

“Gil, sweetheart, it’s getting late and you have gotta settle down and get some sleep if you’re gonna be awake bright and early for camp,” Shelby reminds him for what feels like the thousandth time.

“I can’t wait to see MJ at camp tomorrow so I can tell him I met his aunt!” Gil sinks into his pillow as Shelby pulls his sheets up to his chin. “When’s the game we’re gonna go to?”

“In a couple weeks, on the twenty-third.”

“You’re the best mama ever,” Gil tells her. “I’m so excited for it!”

Shelby smiles, leaning down to press a kiss to Gil’s forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mama. G’night.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart. Sleep well,” Shelby crosses the room, lingering by the door for a moment before switching off the light. She takes a moment to glance up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that light up Gil’s ceiling.

Shelby can almost  _ feel _ the anticipation in the air, as if the universe knows something she doesn’t about what’s coming. As if this is about to be a major turning point in her quiet little life. God help her if it has anything to do with the short basketball-star brunette that she met just a few hours ago.

God help her indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait between chapters. depression is a pain in the ass when it comes to having motivation to write. hope you enjoy despite the delay!

Toni would like to be able to say that she hasn’t given a second thought about the gorgeous blonde she met three nights ago. Unfortunately, if she did say that, she’d be a liar, and she really hates liars, so she turns her annoyance at not being able to get those haunting green eyes out of her mind into aggression on the court, which honestly, isn’t such a new occurrence, not that Toni likes to acknowledge her painfully short temper.

She’s been working on that, recently. With a therapist, which Toni is more than a little embarrassed about, but Coach threatened to bench her if she couldn’t get control over herself on the court and cool it with the fouling. Which flashed Toni back to similar warnings she got from other coaches she’s had, who have followed through on those threats. Somehow, Toni was even more aggressive back in high school and college. She’s lucky to have been drafted into the WNBA at all, actually, with the amount of various fouls she’d gotten called for throughout her college career. It was the scoring records that she broke that made her questionable conduct worth it, apparently. 

That didn’t stop her from being bounced around from team to team for her first three years playing professionally. She was drafted third overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2015, which was pretty fucking dope. Unfortunately, though she played a great season scoring-wise, she also picked up what the coach considered enough fouls to make her a liability, and she was traded to the Atlanta Dream in the offseason. She didn’t fit in well with her teammates on the Dream, having played with and against a few of them in college and she’d apparently pissed them off enough to get her shipped away from there after a subpar season because her teammates hesitated to pass her the fucking ball at all. She had asked to be traded to the Minnesota Lynx, her hometown team, so she could be closer to Martha and MJ, but the Lynx didn’t want her, and she was traded to the Seattle Storm, where she played a pretty decent season, but once again didn’t quite mesh with her teammates —or the dreary Seattle weather— and for the first time, she considered retiring altogether when the coach told her they wouldn’t be renewing her contract for another season.

Her luck changed when the Dallas Wings picked her up in the break before the 2018 season began. Coach Young took a chance on her, she knew then and she knows now. She finally felt like she had a team (and coach) that didn’t hold a grudge against her. It helped that she made fast friends with Rachel, who had been on the team since being picked in the 2016 college draft. She and Rachel had been assigned as roommates for nearly all of their away games that season, and their chemistry on the court quickly became all that people talked about in relation to the team. That energy carried on for the 2019 season, and Toni played her best basketball maybe ever. The Wings managed to reach the final for the first time ever, but lost to the Washington Mystics. She was named to the All-WNBA First Team that season, as well as named the Wings’ season MVP. 

Toni has been going to therapy consistently since about midway through the 2018 season, when Coach Young first pulled her aside after an especially violent game from her and gently suggested that she get in touch with a professional to help her curb her anger problems before she began to negatively impact the team. She didn’t want to, at all. She honestly thought therapy was pretty stupid, but she wanted to prove to her coaches, and herself that she deserved to remain with the Wings for more than one season. The first psychologist she saw made her want to tear heads off more than ever before, and she quickly ditched Dr. Faber for a slew of others until she finally came across someone who wasn’t a condescending asshole. Dr. Harris —Audrey, she insisted Toni call her— was no-nonsense and didn’t tolerate Toni’s bullshit, but she wasn’t unkind and she clearly wanted to help Toni help herself. 

So Toni goes to therapy once a week like clockwork, even managing to do virtual appointments during long stretches of away games. She’s been doing pretty well at not getting enough fouls to get her suspended or benched or fined, which is a win.

Except she absolutely tears down one of her teammates during a scrimmage during practice, throwing the poor woman to the floor with a brutal yank to her arm. Because she’s mad that Dot’s stupidly gorgeous friend’s face hasn’t left her mind in  _ days _ . 

She feels bad right away, offering a hand to help her teammate up, and she even mumbles a “sorry” that she actually means. 

The teammate in question is Susan Huang, a woman a few years older than Toni. She accepts Toni’s help up, giving her a look that Toni thinks might be pity as Coach Young calls out for Toni to get her ass to the bench until she’s ready to stop sabotaging her own damn teammates. And honestly, Toni deserves the jab, doesn’t even argue as she plops down onto the bench next to Rachel, who offers her a bottle of orange Gatorade.

Toni ignores the way Rachel is eyeing her warily, because she really doesn’t want to get into the reason for her shitty sportsmanship today. 

“Nora’s coming to my place for dinner tonight,” Rachel tells her instead of commenting on Toni’s actions. “Wanna help me scrounge together something edible?”

“Can’t we just take her to  _ Dot’s _ ?” 

“Only if you admit that you’ve gone there the past three nights in hopes of running into  _ Shelby _ again,” Rachel smirks.

Toni visibly recoils at the accusation. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Rachel raises an eyebrow in challenge. Unlike most people, she isn’t even the slightest bit scared of Toni.

“Sure, she was hot,” Toni concedes grumpily. “But I haven’t been staking out the diner trying to see her again. I’ve just been too lazy to go grocery shopping yet this week. My kitchen is empty.”

“Mmhmm,” Rachel rolls her eyes. 

“Count me out for tonight,” Toni decides. She’s not really in the mood to deal with other people, even her own friends. She needs to find a way to blow off some steam so she doesn’t lose control at practice tomorrow like she had today.

“Going to  _ Dot’s _ ?” Rachel guesses with a smirk.

Toni clenches her jaw in order to not snarl angry words at Rachel, who is really only just teasing lightheartedly. “Dana’s, actually.”

Rachel crinkles her nose in disgust. “I thought you were done hooking up with her?”

Toni shrugs. 

She _ had _ been done hooking up with Dana. Until three nights ago when she got back to her apartment and couldn’t get Dot’s hot blonde friend out of her head. And it just so happens that Dana called her right when she decided she needed a distraction. So, even though she knew it would cause more trouble for herself in the long-run, Toni drove over to Dana’s place and fucked the woman for hours, until the sweet Southern drawl of the blonde she had just met faded out of her mind. And knowing Dana, the other woman wouldn’t mind a repeat event tonight.

“You see, this type of shit is why I have my ‘one and done’ rule in place. Hooking up with a girl more than once makes things messy. And I don’t do messy.”

“Got it,” Toni says, plastering on a taunting grin that she knows warns Rachel that the next thing out of her mouth is going to be annoying as fuck. “If I ever hear you mention the same girl twice I’ll start planning the wedding.”

“We could make it a double wedding for you and Shelby, too,” Rachel shoots back in the effortless way of hers that makes Toni slightly jealous but mostly annoyed.

“You’ve mentioned Shelby an awful lot, Rach. Maybe it’s you who has the hots for her,” Toni smirks, fully confident that her facial expression does nothing to give away the unsettling feeling that thought puts in the pit of her stomach.

Rachel just laughs, and when Toni frowns, she laughs some more. And Toni is confident she’d keep on laughing if they weren’t both called out back onto the court. 

A couple of hours later, Toni finds herself wandering the aisles of her favorite grocery store instead of tangled up in the sheets of Dana’s bed. She isn’t quite sure when exactly she decided to scrap her hook-up plans for the night, but it probably had something to do with the knowing looks Rachel kept shooting her way throughout the remainder of practice. Toni doesn’t like feeling judged, especially by people whose opinions she values.

So she stands in the produce section for way too long, debating how much fresh food she should buy when she'll be leaving for an almost two-week span of away games in three days. She should’ve just fucking gone to Dana’s. Or _Dot's_ , at the very least.

Toni eventually pushes her cart towards the cereal aisle after just grabbing a bag of apples. If they’re the green ones, they count as vegetables, right?

She remembers now why she only ever goes grocery shopping with Martha or Leah, because they’re the only two people she knows who actually know what the fuck they’re doing when buying food.

The only other person in the cereal aisle is some kid who has his head down comparing two boxes with extreme scrutiny. Toni can’t really see the kid’s face on account of his shaggy hair that obscures his features, but something about his posture seems familiar.

It’s only when Toni accidentally knocks over a box of Lucky Charms and hisses a quiet  _ “fucking hell!” _ that the kid even realizes there’s another person around. 

“Those are bad words,” The kid says, looking up and over at Toni, who freezes when she finally sees his face. 

Because she met this kid three days ago. And judging by the way his eyes light up, he remembers that too.

“You’re Toni!” He grins brightly. 

Toni gives an awkward smile in return. “Um, yup. That’s me. Sorry for swearing, kid.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Gil, she remembers his name, says conspiratorially. 

“Uh, cool. Yeah, thanks,” Toni’s brain is racing, because if Gil is here in this store, his mom probably is too. And Toni is in team-issued sweats and her hair is still damp from the shower she took after practice and it’s down because her hair elastic broke in the locker room after everyone else had already cleared out and taken any spares they had with them. She looks like a mess and she really didn’t expect to run into anyone she knows here. Especially someone as attractive as  _ Shelby _ .

“Does your team make you wear those?” Gil asks, clearly not picking up on Toni’s inner turmoil. He’s pointing at her sweatpants and zip-up hoodie, which proudly boast the team’s logo and her number. 

“Um,” Toni looks down at herself as if noticing what she’s wearing for the first time. “Only on game days.”

“Is it a game day?” Gil tilts his head with doubt.

“No,” Toni says. “I did just come from practice, though.”

“Me too!” Gil grins again. “Well, my basketball camp. Did you make a lot of baskets today?”

Toni shifts awkwardly, because she kind of had a shit practice today. “Some, yeah,” she shrugs. Then, because Gil looks a bit dejected, “what did you do at camp today?”

He brightens. “I got to be the point guard today!” He says excitedly. “We don’t keep track of scores but I made most of my shots!”

“Nice,” Toni gives what she hopes is an encouraging smile.

“Gil? Have you picked out your cereal yet?” A voice that Toni doesn’t recognize calls out, drawing two sets of eyes to the end of the aisle, where a curly-haired brunette is turning a full cart into the aisle.

Toni is a little disappointed that Gil isn’t here with his mom, and then she’s even more disappointed because  _ who _ is this woman who goes grocery shopping with Gil? That seems… domestic. 

Gil looks down at the two boxes in his hands that he’s all but forgotten about. Quickly, he shoves one back on the shelf in front of him. “Sorry. I got distracted.”

The woman laughs affectionately in a way that to Toni seems like it means she’s very used to this type of thing happening. Then, blue eyes meet her own, and Toni can practically see the cogs turning in the woman’s head. “Who’s this, Gil?” She sounds a little concerned, and Toni can understand it’s probably weird to see a stranger standing only a few feet away from your kid in an empty store aisle.

“This is Toni! She plays in the WNBA!” Gil announces proudly. 

“Okay?” The woman says, her guard still clearly up. Toni actually wishes right now that Shelby was the one here, because then at least she wouldn’t have to explain that she knows Gil and that she’s not some creep who goes up to random kids in the grocery store to start conversations.

And apparently, that thought was all it took, because only a moment of awkward silence later, Shelby rounds the corner and nearly crashes right into the woman who Toni still doesn’t know the name of.

“Oof!” Shelby squeaks, stumbling a bit. Toni watches as she rests her free hand on the mystery woman’s waist to stabilize herself, leaning to gently add whatever is in her hand into the cart. 

Only then does she look up and notice Toni, eyes widening.

“Oh… hi!”

“Hi,” Toni mumbles. “Um. I was just getting cereal and then Gil and I recognized each other and we were just talking about basketball.”

“Okay,” Shelby says, much less accusatory than her shorter counterpart. 

“Toni just came from practice, too!” Gil informs his mom happily. “She’s her team’s point guard, remember, Mama?”

“I do,” Shelby agrees. 

Gil swivels back to face Toni. “MJ told me that you take him to your practices sometimes.”

Toni had almost forgotten these two also know Martha and MJ, which is complicated in and of itself. “Sometimes, yeah.”

“That’s  _ so cool _ ,” Gil gushes. “When’s your next game? Will it be on TV?”

“We play again on Friday. It’s an away game, but yeah, it should be on TV,” Toni says. 

“Mama, can MJ sleep over on Friday so we can watch Toni’s game together?” Gil gives his mom a hopeful look, and Toni doesn’t know how Shelby could ever say no to those puppy-dog eyes.

“Maybe,” Shelby says carefully. “I’ll talk to Martha about it, okay?”

Gil nods. “I can’t wait to go to your game in a few weeks, Toni.”

And Toni doesn’t know if it’s Gil’s big, green eyes staring up at her, or the still-suspicious blue gaze from the end of the aisle, but she speaks before she thinks. “After the game I can have security bring you and MJ out onto the court so you can shoot some baskets, how about that?”

Gil’s eyes widen almost comically large, and he nods frantically. “Yes! Yes, that would be so cool! Mama, please?”

Toni glances up at Shelby guiltily, not having thought through her offer, and not wanting to put Shelby in an awkward position.

Shelby gives Gil a smile, though, looking spectacularly unfazed. “Sure, if that’s not against the rules,” she eyes Toni.

“I bring MJ down after the game whenever he and Martha are there,” Toni assures her. “It’s no problem, really. The team loves it.”

“Okay, then,” Shelby says. “We’ve gotta get goin’ now, Gil. But we’ll see Toni again soon, okay?”

Gil pouts, but nods. “Good luck in your game on Friday, Toni,” he grins again, finally heading over to his mom and the still-unnamed brunette. 

“Thank you, Gil,” Toni smiles in return. “It was nice to run into you guys again, and um, nice to meet you…” she waits for the brunette to supply her name, and hopefully shed some light on who she is to Shelby. And Gil, of course.

“Becca,” the woman offers. After a beat, “Gil’s aunt.”

Toni feels more relieved at the information than she has any right to be. “Nice to meet you, Becca. Sorry for distracting Gil from his quest to get cereal,” she winks at Gil, because now she feels light enough to be teasing.

“S’alright,” Shelby is the one who answers. “See ya ‘round, Toni.”

“Hopefully,” Toni wants to smack herself for saying that out loud, but it gets a little grin from Shelby before the trio leaves the aisle, so Toni doesn’t exactly regret it.

She picks up the box of cereal that she had knocked over what feels like hours ago, deciding that this box of Lucky Charms is pretty lucky, indeed.

And she doesn’t notice it until much later, when she’s climbing into bed after a half-hearted attempt at making dinner for herself, but she feels so much more at ease after such a tense couple of days than she would have if she’d gone to Dana’s instead of the grocery store where she accidentally ran into the woman that hadn't left her thoughts in days. 

But it’s even clearer now that Shelby’s not going to leave her head anytime soon.

Toni feels strangely okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?

**Author's Note:**

> drop your thoughts in a comment or find me on twitter @ siimplyviibiing


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